The Palm Oil Authority of Malaysia has issued a notice stating that the export duty rate for crude palm oil will remain at 10% in April and its benchmark price will be raised to 4,547.79 ringgit (RM) or $1,045.99 per tonne, while the benchmark price for March was RM4390.37 or $1,108.07 per tonne of product.

The export duty structure starts at 3% for crude palm oil ranging from RM2250 to RM2400 per tonne. The maximum tax rate is set at 10% when prices exceed RM4050 per tonne.

Earlier it became known that exports of palm oil from Malaysia from March 1 to 15 amounted to 381.79 thousand tons compared to 422.43 thousand tons in the same period of the previous month, due to lower demand from key importers. At the same time, experts believe that palm oil prices will be stable, as emerging markets in Africa will compensate for lower demand in the near future.